Fallout 3 Ridiculous Argyle Fanfic
by nightmareoak
Summary: Follows the tale of somebody who met Argyle before his unfortunate demise. This person looked up to Argyle in a way I felt was borderline creepy when I was writing it. I joked about it and my friends told me to do it. :


I turn on the radio just in time to hear the beginning of a new adventure. The adventures of Herbert "Daring" Dashwood and his "Stalwart Ghoul Manservant" Argyle. The shows are always great to listen to, great to take your mind off of the shit hole you live in, but I never really cared for some of the acting jobs. Mind you, I realize it's the definition of simplistic and supposed to be a tad corny, but it all seems a little racist sometimes. After all, a Super Mutant never simply told me to shut up. They usually scream with fury and then with pain before getting real quiet.

I begin stretching, hoping to get a bit of training in while nobody's trying to wear my bones around their neck. I was always told to maintain my body if I wanted what I learned to mean anything, so I do my best. You see, I'm not only a fan of Dashwood and Argyle, nor am I just somebody they helped. I am, as far as I know, Argyle's only remaining student. Ben Daniels is the name, no relation to Jack but we're close friends lately. I know, I know, the name's not as good as "Daring" Dashwood, but what're you gonna do?

I met Argyle in Rockopolis, in one of his first journeys there. I was an escaped slave, and he was a personal hero. Ghoul or not, he was anything but a brain-eater. In fact, he chewed me out for that one. I made an off-handed comment that I thought all ghouls were after my brain, and he set me straight very loudly. Dashwood could barely hold him back to keep him from snapping my neck. I felt really bad about that, and later that night I tried to apologize to him, but he wasn't having it. Since he wasn't listening to me, I just started talking about him. Told him how I was amazed at how many people he'd saved, battles he'd fought, and all with his fists.

Finally, he sighed and looked over at me, and we started talking. About small things, general every-day life things. Raiders, Super Mutants, things we had to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Eventually, he had to be on his way and we said out goodbyes. Slaves came and went, but I stayed right in Rockopolis, waiting for Argyle's adventures to bring him back so I could learn more about him. I was still a boy at the time, so the man was slowly but surely becoming my hero.

It would be weeks before I saw him and Dashwood again. I thought of a million questions, a million things I wanted to say to him. But when he finally arrived, I asked only one. "What's your story?" Of course, he thought I was kidding with him at first. "My story?" he said, "I kick people." I snickered, but insisted he tell me about himself. He still didn't seem so interested, but after pressing the matter, he finally told me a few things with a sigh.

He told me he didn't remember life before being a ghoul. There were a few ghoul slaves with the same problem around, so I assumed it just came with the territory. He did, however, remember learning some of his martial arts moves from some grand masters or black belts or whatever he said they were. Apparently back before ghouls and mutants, back when everyone was human, the color of your belt meant something about your fighting style. I still don't get it, but he said it was tradition, so we left it at that. Either way, I asked him if he'd teach me to fight like him. He laughed a little bit, which hurt my feelings, but he finally said "Sure, kid," and we started with the basics.

From there on, he'd teach me a few things every time he dropped by, and I'd practice them vehemently while he was away. When he returned, I'd show him what I was doing, he'd show me what I was doing wrong, and teach me new things. While he was there, he'd tell me about how he'd saved Dashwood most recently, and what mess he'd gotten them into this time. That man would've been long gone without Argyle, but at least he readily acknowledged it. He was a nice guy too. Unlike the manservant title implies, Argyle traveled with him because they were pals.

While it's true that Argyle always got Dashwood out of trouble, it isn't, in fact, true that Dashwood always got in trouble because of women. Nor was Argyle quite as gritty all the time. Don't get me wrong, he was still gritty and crafty, and he still put bombs in the pockets of Super Mutants (he told me about that one.) But above all, he was a man. He had hopes, likes and dislikes, fears, and aspirations just like the rest of us. He was just more comfortable than most.

I remember one time Rockopolis was being invaded by Raiders, and it was up to Dashwood, Argyle, and me to defend it. Okay, so I jumped in when I found the opportunity to fight alongside Argyle, but that's unimportant. Blow for blow, it eventually all came down to stealth warfare. Dashwood kept the Raiders at bay with a pistol while Argyle and me snuck around, taking them down one by one, or two by two if I hit right. Eventually the raid was staved off, some of the gang running for their lives, others having lost theirs. Argyle patted me on the back, telling me that my martial arts skills were alright. He then grabbed my shoulders, looked me in the eye, and told me never to jump in headlong like that again. That was the last I saw of Argyle for a while.

I spent my time training and developing technique, hopeful that I'd be able to impress my mentor when next he came. I even found something that I intended to give my mentor as a present. The next he came was with a woman named Penelope Chase. You probably know how the story goes from the radio broadcasts. Chase reveals herself as the leader of the Slavers, Argyle uses his Eagle Claw technique (he never taught that one to me), and slavers ambush Rockopolis. In all the confusion, Argyle and Dashwood are split up.

I was there, watching, hiding. I remembered what Argyle told me. Don't jump in headlong. I looked for an opening. Found one, didn't take it. Something didn't seem right. My mentor was backed into a corner, fighting slaver after slaver, dropping several of them in his own right. I was just about to exit my hiding spot when he looked directly at me. It was somewhat of a glare. He knew what I wanted to do, and disapproved greatly. I slid back down into my hiding place, terrified. I could do nothing but hope that Argyle would make it out alright.

After the slavers had left, dragged off all of the escaped slaves to somewhere called The Pit, I slumped out from the small gap in the rocks in which I'd been hiding. I walked over to my mentor and looked down at him. I wanted desperately to cry, but I couldn't. I didn't vow revenge, I didn't even bury him. All I could bring myself to do was leave him with the present I'd gotten for him, a Vault-Tec bobble head. I lay it on the rock to the left of him, and turned to ascend to the wasteland above.

I set out to find Dashwood, to tell him of the events that transpired and seek his help rescuing the slaves from whatever the Pit is. I still to this day haven't found where he wound up. I have yet to search but a small portion of D.C. Many tunnels are closed off, many Deathclaws and Super Mutants block any path I may choose at any time, and it's a lot of land for one man to cover on foot alone. Yet somehow, I'll find Daring. We will rescue the slaves, and I'll find a way to make certain slavers everywhere remember the name of Argyle.


End file.
